


as eternal as the sun

by Cloud_Lightning



Category: Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Series, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-11 21:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16860715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud_Lightning/pseuds/Cloud_Lightning
Summary: Lightning wish all of this was just a dream. A really long and tiring dream that she hopes will end soon.Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca will find any means necessary to defeat the Empire, even if it means disturbing the slumber of the most powerful Esper.





	as eternal as the sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jura/gifts).



> for olivia, happy reallllllllllllllly belated b'day, liv
> 
> first of all im so sorry it took me this long to write you something for your b'day gift. i hope you'll like this one. and second, good luck with your college liv, college sucks but when you make the most of it, it will at least half bearable. you can do it

When she killed Bhunivelze, right before the darkness swallowed him whole, he spoke to her. “I chose you as my Goddess of Death, and nothing can ever change that. Not even the rise and fall of something small as the humanity.”

Lightning just scoffed and hit him with another thunder magic, wishing he would just die already, she was tired of seeing his face.

And after that, Caius Ballad came and took over her place. The peace that came next also made Lightning forget that warning.

Until she became the last person alive on earth and the new Gods finally had mercy on her and took her life.

 

* * *

 

Reincarnation is real, Lightning keep reminding herself that. Even after she reincarnated for almost over ten times (she’d stopped bothering to count around ten), but every time it happened to her, Lightning was amaze all over again. She had lived as a soldier, as the Champion of Etro, as the Goddess of Death, as a queen, a hero, even a villain. Each time she reincarnated, she was given a new life, a new purpose, even a new name. But Lightning remembered all of her past lives, creeping up inside her memories. She thought being a human would make her forgets all of it, how she wished she was a human because that made more sense instead living as an ancient being that lived long enough as the planet.

Hell, she even witnessed the humanity blowing up the planet they inhibited five times already (the first time when she saw it as Lightning doesn’t count because it wasn’t the humanity, but Bhunivelze the one that destroyed the planet.)

All of her friends were also reincarnated, Bhunivelze was such a sick bastard, and he made sure her friends didn’t remember her. Not as Lightning, not as her next life.

Each time they’ve met, it began anew.

Lightning wished she could cry, but her tears have dried up the second time she reincarnated and found out that Serah already died before she could find her little sister.

After that, Lightning raised her weapon against the Gods again. She wanted all of this to end, she was tired and she didn’t wish to fight for another battle. Each God she defeated didn’t bring any answer to her wish, even though all of the people surrounded her were joyous because they’ve won their battle.

True, their battle, not Lightning’s.

Every time she helped the humanity but failed to help herself, Lightning would retreat to the dark corner of the world, protecting herself with such powerful magic that no one would ever know. Not even her friends from the life where everyone called her Lightning.

But even so, not in every life, she could raise her gunblade (sometimes Lightning laughed at the absurdity of all of this, where the one and only constant thing in her reincarnation was her most prized and trusted gunblade, the Blazefire. A reminder that no matter the universe, she was a soldier through and through) to fight the Gods. She needed magic, and not every life granted her such power.

They were times when the concept of magic was lost on humanity, not so very often Lightning reincarnated in a universe where magic displayed as something ridiculous, a universe where magic and technology couldn’t live side by side like what happened in her life as Lightning. Always one side was far more superior than the other, making the other just a whispers in the dark alley. Lightning remembered that one time when she became a pilot of a mecha named wanzer, one of the best pilots at that time. That was one of the lives where magic didn’t existed she enjoyed.

Until she was reincarnated in a universe where magic and technology lived side by side, just like in her life as Lightning.

 

A universe where the world was called Ivalice _._

 

Thirteen of them reincarnated as a human with a power of transformation into Gods’ most superior creation.

 

The creation that was known as the Esper.

 

* * *

 

This world reminded Lightning much of her first life. Even her friends’ personalities matched their first life personalities. (She was still wary to call Cid, Rygdea, Jihl, Caius, and Yuel as her friends but then they’ve overcome so many reincarnations together and the least Lightning could do was to call them her friend.

The first time Lightning saw Caius’ reincarnation, she thought the man didn’t remember her. But then he approached her and said. “I have failed. I thought I could take over your place as the God of Death so you can have a peaceful life, but Bhunivelze has made his choice a long time ago. And I am nothing but a human filled with darkness and magic, nothing of the sort pure entity like of the Gods. Therefore I’ve failed.”

They’ve met in a world where magic didn’t exist, a world where Lightning was a model for crying out loud! Lightning could play dumb and had the security to remove him from this café and forbid him to seek her again. But she wanted to talk about her past lives because keeping them all to herself was a burden, so she chuckled lightly and drank her black coffee slowly. “I’ve known that since my third reincarnation.”

“You’ve remembered?” Caius asked a surprise laced his deep voice.

Lightning didn’t look at him when she answered. “Everything. And many more to come, it seems.”

“I see.”

“The price of being a Goddess of Death.”

 

Caius didn’t remember anything about her on the next reincarnations.)

 

Even their wish of challenging the gods was the same.

If this happened in the previous lives where Lightning hasn’t been worn down by memories and war and reincarnations, she would gladly raise her gunblade alongside with Fang and the others. But now, it only made her grew tired and she just wished to rest. She does not care about her power, because she knew even if thirteen of them fight together against their Maker, they’ll lose. Fang didn’t want to hear that, she accused Lightning of a coward.

And for the first time in her life, Lightning let them be.

She was tired, and all those people standing in front of her, with their Esper’s form hovering behind them, were not her friends she once knew. They only looked the same, but they weren’t the same. It made Lightning tired, of being the only one remembered everything, of being the only one that tried her hard to make them remembered the past, while they only cared about the future.

So, for the first time in her many lives, Lightning stopped fighting.

When Serah looked over her after she decided to not partake their rebellion against the Gods, Lightning thought her little sister remembered her. That Serah would call her ‘sis’ again and coax her into helping them (Lightning was hundredth percent sure that would work. Because for the love and light of Etro, she missed her little sister so much and she would do anything in her power to make Serah remembered again, but alas her power was not enough to grant her that wish), but that didn’t happened.

Instead, she looked at her with such disappointment and shook her head.

Just like old times when Lightning forbade her to hang around Snow.

But this time, her heart didn’t beat in agony or clench in despair. Maybe she still didn’t have her heart back, that maybe her fusion with Lumina failed and her heart was no longer there, leaving a gigantic darkness inside her soul.

Lightning only stood behind the group as her right hand pressed against her chest, trying to find the faintest beat of her old and tired heart.

 

* * *

 

When the Gods came to her, she thought they would have her killed for failing to stop her friends from rebelled against the Gods. But instead, they feared her power. Feared their very own creation, they had the rights to be. Twelve of the Chosen rebelled against their Maker, and why wouldn’t Lightning?

No matter what she said, the Gods didn’t believe in her. And so they sealed her away in the deepest part of the Ivalice.

It wasn’t the first time she went into a static state; at least she still had her throne from Etro.

The Gods then told her that the only way for her to joining the mortal world was when someone summons her and Lightning forever bound to them.

Lightning chuckled and wondered if this happened in the previous life, she would fight tooth and nail to defend herself. But now didn’t care, she just wanted to rest of eternity and done with humankind.

But then Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, Princess of Dalmasca, came and disturbed her slumber.

 

* * *

 

Lightning knew the fight of Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, she saw everything that happened in Ivalice even when she was in deep slumber. She heard what happened from her friends, the twelve of them that rebelled against the Gods. How the princess and her comrades managed to harness the power of The Twelve, and now she seeks yet another power.

She didn’t use her full power when she fought the humans, even when they called forth her friends on their Esper’s form; Lightning just smirked and continue to fight them with her minimum power. Especially when Princess Ash summoned Fang in her Esper’s form, she saw how desperate Fang was to defeat her, but Lightning strike her down with one powerful blow. No one could handle her full power, it would destroy the world, that much Lightning knew.

Even so, the battle was hard for the princess, her comrades fallen one by one, each of them sacrificed themselves to protect the true heir of the Dalmasca. Even the Espers became the victim of Lightning’s power. She didn’t feel anything when she defeated her friends one by one. Maybe she didn’t have her heart after all. Lightning was barely breaking any sweat, while the princess knew her chance of winning was thin, yet she still fought Lightning in her Esper’s form, the Zodiark.

There was something of the princess that reminded her of her old self, back when she was Lightning and powerful enough to defeat Bhunivelze.

So she let Princess Ashe strike her down.

Zodiark’s body was engulfed in bright light, hiding her transformation into her human form. A gush of wind inside the mines, bringing rose petals and scattered them all over two figures in the middle of the mines.

When the bright light finally vanished, Princess Ashe gasped as she saw the figure kneeling in front of her. The tip of her sword next to the figure’s slender neck.

“You,” Ashe whispered. “You are the true soul of Zodiark?”

Lightning raised her head slightly to meet with the princess’ eyes. “You have learned the history of us?”

Ashe blinked a few times, she was shocked upon hearing Lightning’s voice. Lightning knew that her friends never bother to have a conversation with Lady Ashe and her companions. They only saw these humans as their way to fight the Gods again. “Your comrades taught me. If it wasn’t for them, I would not know the existence of you.”

“I wish you do not seek me,” Lightning said softly. “But alas, it happened. And you have bested me.”

“You did not use all of your power,” Ashe’s gripped on her sword tightened. Afraid that Lightning would unleash her true power now that it was just the two of them.

“If you wish upon death by my hands, then I shall.”

As Lightning rose to her feet, Lady Ashe’s fallen comrades followed suit. Lightning revived them all with every step she took to her throne. Her cloak and greaves scrapped against the raw stones of the mines echoed within the mines.

The comrades surrounded themselves near the princess, trying to protect her from any harm.

Lightning sat down on her throne, crossed her legs, lowered her gunblade into her lap, next she addressed them with coldness rivaled the darkness.

“So tell me,” she ignored their gasp and focused only on the princess, stood tall and proud in the middle of the circle. “You have found The Twelve Espers. Surely their powers are more than enough for your fight.”

“Wait, she can talk?” One of them, if Lightning remembered correctly goes by the name of Vaan, asked.

“Why are you always asking such a rude question, Vaan?”

“That’s not rude, Penelo. Wait, is it?”

The group sighed.

“I wish to protect Dalmasca from any harm to come.”

“And you think The Twelve aren’t enough?”

“The Empires has found ways to harness more power, and your comrades never truly helped me,” Ashe began. “They only used us as a vessel for them to find a way to bring an end to their eternal fight against the Gods.”

“What?” The group asked in unison. Even the one that goes by the name of Fran looked shocked.

“Princess, what are you talking about?” The man, Balthier, asked with a worry looked in his face.

“You did not hear the whispers?” Asked Ashe, her voice laced with shock and confusion.

“Only the descended of the Dynast-King able to hear such whispers,” Lightning said. She remembered the Gods came to her again after so many millennial after her imprisonment, telling her tales about the Dynast-King and how they trusted the power of those with the blood of the Dynast-King runs through their veins to harness the power of the Esper. And then the Gods granted them the power to choose to whom they would give such tremendous task of harnessing the power of the Esper alongside with them.

Ashe looked at Lightning. “So only I?”

Lightning nodded.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Vaan said frantically. “We’re just vessel? The heck is that supposed to mean?!”

“Are they going to take over our body or something?” Penelo asked, frightened by the idea.

“No,” Lightning raised her voice to calm them down. “While is it true that my friends used you as their vessel, they will not take over your body.”

“And what’s stopping them?” Basch asked.

“We do not have that kind of power.”

“So what is truly going to happen after the Esper bounded to us?” Ashe asked.

“We will continue to find our way to challenge our Maker, it is true, even long after your mortal body no longer exists. We do not have the power to fight you, so are safe as long as you are bond to us.”

“And if we did not?”

Something akin to confusion crossed Lightning’s eyes, but she masked it very well. “I will protect you if one of my friends tries to harm you. But I am sure none of them wish to harm you.”

“Maybe next time we should ask terms and conditions first before signing up into something like this,” Balthier said.

“Do you still wish my power?” Lightning asked. “I can still protect you if my friends truly wish any harm upon you, even without you bond to me.”

It was a fail-save made by the Gods to contain her. Only Zodiark had the ability to choose whether or not she wants to bond to the person that defeated her. They thought no one was strong enough to defeat her, well that was true, but they didn’t think of one scenario where Lightning purposely let herself be defeated.

“Yes,” Ashe spoke. “I still wish for your power.”

For the first time after endless reincarnation, Lightning smiled widely. “And why you wish for my power? Are you that thirsty for powers that not even two powers of Espers echoed inside you aren’t enough?”

“Call me greedy or thirsty,” Ashe said. “I will do anything in my power to protect my land!” Ashe fisted her left hand in front of her chest, and then Lightning saw the two Espers’ marks on the princess. Glowing brightly like the fierceness of the princess.

The first one was Belias, but Lightning knew the spirit as Snow. She chuckled to herself when she remembered eons ago when Snow has bestowed the power of Shiva, l’Ciel with a power of the ice. Snow was everything but calm and coolness, Lightning said to him one day when their relationship was no longer where Lightning wanted to punch him every time she saw Snow. So for him to be reincarnated as someone with the power of a fire now, it fitted him. Belias’ mark lies on the princess’ left hand, just like Snow’s mark of Shiva.

The second one was Ultima, or the one that goes by the name of Fang. She was the one that led the other eleven Espers to rebel against their Maker. It was fitting of her to choose Princess Ashe as her host, she needed a strong-willed human to harness her power and rage and ambition. Lightning remembered when she was just Fang, shouting her promise to save Vanille even if she must face another god. The mark of Ultima’s mark lies on the princess’ back. From the top of her spine, all the way down.

Lightning titled her head to the side. “You have so much rage inside you, my princess.”

Ashe blinked. “When you saw your homeland turned into a battlefield, this happened,” she growled.

Lightning only smiled sadly. She has done that, many times. Maybe, just maybe, the spirit of the princess awakened something deep within Lightning’s dull heart. And she was curious about where the princess would steer the world’s history. Just like her ancestors before her.

Slowly, Lightning stepped down from her throne. Her sudden movement made everyone on guard.

When she stood in front of the circle, in front of the men called themselves Vaan and Basch.

“Your princess wishes to bond to me,” Lightning said calmly.

“This is weird,” Balthier mumbled. “This never happened before. Usually, the mark flew directly into one of use, and not…” He waved his right hand to Lightning’s form. “This.”

“Step aside,” Ashe ordered.

“Princess?”

Ashe put her hand on Basch’s shoulder. “Lay down your sword.”

The knight was looking at his princess with worried eyes, but one nod from her managed to make him back down. “Very well,” Basch said.

As the two of them stepped aside, the others followed suit. Now it was only Lightning and Ashe in the middle of the mines

“Then you shall have me,” Lightning said as she raised her right hand. “To you, I bestow my power, the Zodiark, may this power help you to win every battle and war lay before you. And may you use this power with just,” she touched Ashe’s chest with her glowing hand.

When her hand made contact with Ashe’s skin, the princess yelled in pain. Her companions tried to move, but then the princess screamed. “Stay!”

“With this power I granted you, may you use it to protect your homeland, repel any harm upon your people,” Lightning continued.

Ashe coughed few times, her lungs felt like burning and her visions started to blur. She gripped Lightning’s hand to keep herself standing. Another cough spluttered blood all over their hands, but they didn’t care.

“And with this,” Lightning touched Ashe’s cheek tenderly with her free hand. She waited until the princess opened her eyes, those gray eyes looking up to her. Lightning watched the hardship Lady Ashe has overcome, hardening the resolves behind those pale eyes. “You shall have me inside your heart for as long as you wish. For I only bound to you by your words, and only you can break this bond of ours.”

Ashe cries of agony filled the emptiness of the mines, Lightning held her tightly by her waist, keeping the princess stand still.

“For I,” Lightning whispered softly, “is your humble servant.”

A bright light exploded from Lightning’s figure, blinding everyone within the mines.

As the light slowly faded away, rose petals came down from above and Ashe’s body lying in the middle of the mines, alone.

“Princess!” Basch screamed and ran toward the princess.

“What just happened?” Balthier kept blinking to adjust with the darkness that once again engulfing the mines.

Gone was the throne of Zodiark, leaving them inside an empty mine.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” Basch asked as he carefully helped Ashe to sit down.

“I am,” Ashe coughed again. “Not. But I will live,” she clutched her chest. “It hurts.”

“So it was real?” Vaan asked, amaze.

Ashe looked down to her chest, and she saw a new mark there. “It would appear so. I have a new mark.” She tried to stand up, but she was still weak from the joining. If it weren’t for Basch and Vaan, she would have fallen to the ground.

“I think it is better if we leave,” she said.

“Are you can even walk, princess?” Balthier asked.

“I will try,” Ashe said. Her right hand immediately went to her chest, the mark was still warm, but it was no longer painful.

“Alright then, just tell us if you want to rest.”

Ashe nodded back and let Balthier lead the way, Basch and Vaan walked beside her. She gave one last look behind her, smiled softly and walked away.

 

A glimpse of something like Lightning’s spirit came to life, she smiled and pressed her right hand on her chest. Slowly but surely she can fell the beat of her heart again, faintly, but she knew it was there. Beating a steady rhythm as the Princess of Dalmasca walked toward her destiny.

With Lightning and the other Espers by her side.

**Author's Note:**

> i was just playing ff 12 the zodiac system and reading the wiki about the esper, and suddenly i got an idea "hey, how about if these esper were actually lightning and co?" so this happened. honestly i was confused of who is going to be who, especially when it comes to ultima and zodiark. but im happy with my decision. i wanna put transformation tag, but im afraid it will give away the plot, so *shrug*
> 
> if by any chance tumblr still survive, you can find me @nightwhite13


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